Strange Love
by orc-of-skyrim
Summary: When Dylan and her team uncover a pyramid, but they also find malevolent parasitic aliens. before the predators leave earth will they find love or will they remain cold blooded forever and return home.


She slam my ice ax into the frozen waterfall, it's biting into the ice.

Shes dressed head to toe in extreme cold weather gear, face mask, and boots with crampons.  
Dylan is climbing the Khumba ice waterfall, a four thousand foot frozen waterfall that begins eighteen thousand feet in the air and crests at twenty-two thousand feet.  
Dylan has nearly reached the top, her mind focused on a specific rhythm and routine. Swing the axe, kick the crampon, pull and move up. Again. Calm, deliberate, always careful to keep her balance. Swing the axe, kick the crampon, pull and move up. Again. She is meticulous in every step.

Dylan anchors her safety line by screwing an ice screw into the face of the waterfall. Grains of snow fall over her face as the screw is driven in. Water trickles deep within the ice.  
Dylan relaxes for a second as the carabiner snaps shut and secures her to the anchor. Hard wind blows over. Other than that sound, everything is quiet on the ice climb.  
She catches her breath and starts again. Swing the axe, kick the crampon, pull and move up. Again. And again. And again. She stops. Right at the edge of the top. She takes a minute to look at the world from here - Her moment of peace is shattered by modern communication. Her GSM phone RINGS. She's clearly surprised that anyone should be calling.  
Dylan checks the number, doesn't recognize it, but the phone won't stop ringing. She takes an earpiece and carefully slides it into her ear.  
"Who is this?" She asked.  
The voice on the other end is liquid velvet cut with a crystal clear English accent.  
"Miss Woods ... a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Maxwell Stafford.  
I represent Weyland Industries".  
"Let me guess: you're suing us again?".  
"You misunderstand ... I speak for Mr. Weyland himself".

"What's one of the world's biggest polluters want with us?" She asked.  
"Mr. Weyland's interest is in you personally. He's offering to fund the foundation with which you are associated for a full year ... if you'll meet with him".  
She hesitates for a moment. This is like making a deal with the Devil.  
"When?".  
"Tomorrow" he said.  
"I presume you know how bad we need the money ..."  
She hesitates again.  
"... But tomorrow's going to be a problem".  
Dylan continues climbing the last few feet.  
"Take me a week to get back to the World" she said.  
"I told Mr. Weyland that".  
She swings the axe, kicks the crampon, pulls and moves up.  
"What did he say?" She asked.  
Annoyed, Dylan pulls herself up and over the ridge.  
"He said he didn't have a week".  
Dylan stands up, unhooks her safety lines and finds herself staring at a perfect pair of Qxford Brogues, belonging to MAXWELL STAFFORD, an elegant man of Afro-Caribbean descent.  
A Bell 212 Helicopter sits behind him. All waiting for her arrival. She's speechless.

They arrive to the destination after a few days.

They exit out of the vehicles and all they can see is darkness and no camp. When Dylan fires a parachute flare into the air. It explodes in the air and brightly illuminates the Whaling Station in a cool green hue.  
"It's an abandoned whaling station. According to your satellite imagery Mr. Weyland, the pyramid is located directly beneath it" said Dylan.  
A dozen wooden buildings are making sound as the wind of them no more than shacks. All of them encrusted with ice and half buried in the snow. The team walks down one of the 'streets!'.  
Spread out. We'll use this place as base camp" said max.

Dylan walks to the edge of a icy cliff and looked down. All she saw was a giant black cauldron dominates the harbor. Fifteen feet high, thirty feet across.

She notice Sebastian is looking at the old whale bones. She walks up to him and he asked  
"What are these?".  
"Whalebones ... This station was abandoned in 1904. Everyone just disappeared overnight. It was a big mystery back then" she replied.  
"Witch's cauldron?".  
"The 'Separator.' Throw whale blubber in, heat it, separate out the fat. Whale oil was big business back then".

The harbor leading to the whaling station is totally frozen over. Sebastian stares down at the thick ice.  
"How did they get ships in here?"Sebastian asked.  
"The station only operated in the summer, when the pack ice melted. It was abandoned in 1904".  
"How come?".  
"I don't know I'm not a history teacher" she said walking away in frustration.

Dylan is tying to look for miller but she can't find him. She heard a noise and she goes to investigate. When she she's miller with his back turned to her. She grabbed onto his shoulder and he yelled.

"Jesus!".  
"No one goes anywhere alone" she said.  
"There's something in here" he said.  
"I doubt it".  
"Over there...".  
Dylan raises her Flashlight, piercing the darkness.  
"Listen" he said.  
And now they both hear it. Something is moving. Now they both shine their flashlights into the darkness. And then it emerges from behind a table - a terrifying, deadly...Penguin.  
"For God's sake ...".  
"It's a penguin!" She said  
"I thought it might be...".  
"Careful...".  
Dylan smiles at Miller. He really is out of his depth.  
"...they do bite".

There is Shouting outside. And as Dylan walks away, Miller takes the Penguin's picture.

As Dylan and Miller emerge from the mess hall, they see Sebastian.  
"Over here! You're not going to believe this!".  
Dylan and miller go around the corner of the mess hall to reveal - A gaping hole in the snow and ice. Perfectly round. Ten feet across. the rest of the team are gathering around the hole.  
"It's drilled at a perfect 30 degree angle".  
"How far does it go down?" Asked Dylan.  
"All the way to the pyramid".  
Quinn nods to Sven and he lights a FLARE, then drops it down the shaft. The flare falls... endlessly until its flickering light is finally SWALLOWED in the darkness. It never hits bottom.  
"How was it done?" Asked miller.  
"Thermal equipment of some kind" said Quinn  
"Like yours?".

Quinn shakes his head. He glances at the building closest to the hole. Whatever cut through the ice has also cut clean through the building, vaporizing wooden beams and metal walls.  
"More advanced. Incredibly powerful. I've never seen anything like it."said Quinn.  
"If people where here then Where's their base camp?" Said Dylan.  
"She's right".  
"They must already be down there" said max.  
Dylan examines the ice at the mouth of the hole.  
"No. Look at the ice. There's no ridges. Nobody's been down there"..  
"Satellite passed over eleven minutes ago. Get me the data".  
Max moves off to do that.

Minuets later

Weyland spreads a satellite photo over the hood of the Haaglund for Lex,Sebastian,Miller,Max,Quinn and Verheiden.  
"There it is. Clear as day".

The familiar pattern of interlocking square shapes. Only this time, a long red line connects them to the surface of the ice.  
"And this time yesterday...".  
Weyland replaces the photo with one taken 24 hours earlier. The square shapes are the same, but there is no tunnel.  
"... nothing".  
"So whoever cut this, they did it in the last 24 hours" said Dylan.  
"That's just not possible" said Quinn.  
"It's here. It's done".  
"I'm telling you there's no team and no machine in the world that could cut to this depth in twenty-four hours".  
"The only way we're going to know for sure is to get down there and find out" said Dylan.

Half hour later  
The team is preparing for a descent into the unknown. Ropes are dropped into the void. A Winch and Pulley system is being built over the mouth of the tunnel by Sven, Boris and Mikel.  
Miller watches Quinn's team work. He scratches his head and pulls his woolen Hat off in frustration.  
"Put your hat back on" said Dylan.  
"It itches".

"I saw a man lose both his ears with frostbite. With the ear canal exposed, you can see a full inch inside your head".  
Dylan smiles sweetly and walks away. Hold on Miller as he reacted and then hurriedly puts his hat back on.

They make it to the bottom of the tunnel. It's exactly 2000 feet below the surface.  
Dylan lights a cool blue Flare, illuminating a scene of surreal beauty. They are in an Ice grotto, A vast ceiling vaulting off above them Not telling how big this place is.  
"Let's get those lights up" said max.  
"Any second now".  
Max's men are already unpacking multiple sets of portable floodlights. They begin hooking them to power cables which run back up the tunnel to generators on the surface.  
"We have power!".  
"Let's light her up" said a max.

As one, multiple banks of powerful floodlights kick in. The sudden REFLECTIONS from the glacial ice are blinding.  
Dylan shielded her eyes. Slowly she lowers her hand. Sebastian turns to see what Dylan has seen. He stops dead in amazement.  
We still don't know what they have seen. But whatever it is, it's breathtaking.


End file.
